Tuesday, November 02, 2010

a non-profit trade association founded in 1996, comprised of active Maryland breweries and brewpubs. The mission of BAM is to foster and promote the Maryland world-renowned brewing industry.

Fourteen breweries and/or brewpubs out of the twenty-one currently operating in the state are dues-paying members. Since 2005, the association has organized a contest to judge the best beers brewed by its members. It announces the results at its annual BAM Oktoberfest. The best of the best is awarded the Governor's Cup, an actual cup, which that brewery keeps for a year.

Clipper City —now known as Heavy Seas Brewing—
won the Cup in 2005, the first year of the competition.

There is no mention of this year's competition or its results posted on BAM's website, so I reached out for Phil Bowers —the association's current treasurer and the owner of Brewer's Alley in Frederick, Maryland— to find out more.

YFGF: Who participated in this year's Maryland Governor's Cup?BAM: Fourteen Maryland breweries entered a record 110 entries in 12 categories with a whopping 68 entries receiving medals. Another testament to the quality of the beers we are brewing in MD.

YFGF: How were these categories determined?BAM: BAM picked them based on BJCP [Beer Judge Certification Program] guidelines. Breweries submitted both category and BJCP sub-categories. [YFGF:The BJCP is a volunteer organization which has created guidelines and specifications for perceived beer styles.]

YFGF: Who were the judges? What were their qualifications?BAM: All were BJCP qualified. We employed a local organizer of homebrew competitions [Les White of the Free State Homebrew Club Guild] and he sent out notices to all BJCP certified judges to participate.

YFGF: Is the winner in each category that which scores the highest average or the highest total?BAM: Winner in each category had the highest score.

YFGF: Are there gold/silver bronze awarded in each category?BAM: All entries that scored high enough were awarded medals.[YFGF: Based upon the BJCP's 50-point guidelines, Gold was awarded to those beers scoring "Outstanding (45 - 50): World-class example of style." Silver was given to beers scoring "Excellent (38 - 44): Exemplifies style well, requires minor fine-tuning." Bronze was awarded to beer scoring "Very Good (30 - 37): Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws."]

YFGF: How is the overall winner —the winner of the Governor's Cup— determined? BAM: Each category winner came out to an overall judging and the Cup winner was determined from that group.

YFGF: Does the Maryland Governor award the cup?BAM: The current Governor has not participated. We announced and handed out at the BAM Oktoberfest a couple weeks ago.[YFGF: Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, is the current governor. His predecesor, Bob Ehrlich, a Republican, did participate, handing out the Cup from 2005 through 2007.]

YFGF: Since the competition began in 2005, who have been the winners of the Maryland Governor's Cup?BAM: